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McNairy was born in Dallas, Texas,[1] to Alicia Ann McNairy (née Merchant) and Stewart Hall McNairy.[1] He has an older brother.[3] Although he grew up in Dallas, he spent holidays and weekends on his parents' ranch in rural Paris, Texas.[4][5] Growing up, he did theater in after-school programs.[2] His father began calling him Scooter when he was about two years old. He has commented on his nickname, saying: "A lot of people are like, oh, it must be some amazing story. But it's because I used to scoot around on my butt."[6]

McNairy has stated that he is "highly dyslexic", and that he had to "go to dyslexia school for four years". He elaborated: "What I learned at a very young age – 12 years old – is that I learn everything by watching, through my eyes, visually. So watching films was educational because it was mindless learning. I could take in so much just by watching."[3]

McNairy moved to Austin, Texas in his early 20s, and was cast in his first film role, Wrong Numbers (2001), a teen drinking comedy written and directed by friend and frequent collaborator Alex Holdridge. The film won the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival. Holdridge was hired to remake Wrong Numbers into a studio picture, but things didn't work out.

McNairy wasn't sure of being an actor: "I thought I wanted to be a wildlife photographer or cinematographer," he says, citing a love for the great outdoors. "So I moved [to LA] to go to film school."[5] After a year of film school working to become a cinematographer,[7] McNairy dropped out and began working in film production (carpentry, building film sets). Then he worked as an extra, until he eventually found steady work starring in over 200 TV commercials. Although initially interested in being behind the camera, he soon found roles as a journeyman actor for over 10 years.[2][8]

During the early 2000s, McNairy was known for his specialization in portraying colorful and individualistic young men with a slightly rebellious edge. McNairy began with small parts in films, including Wonderland (2003), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), and Art School Confidential (2006).

In 2010, McNairy worked on The Listening Party as Ferret and Everything Will Happen Before You Die as Matt. 2010 also saw the release of the alien invader film by Gareth Edwards called Monsters, which featured largely improvised dialogue and was shot in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Texas.[9][10][11]

McNairy said he "started out building sets, and that’s how I met my commercial agent who’s now my theatrical manager and my producing partner, John Pierce. I’ve been with him for seven years. Everybody needs to find their one major cheerleader who will stand behind them on anything, and I definitely found that with John."[6]

He has also worked on a number of projects as an actor and producer, including: A Night in the Woods as Brody Cartwright due for release in 2012, Angry White Man as Walt, Dragon Day as Phil and The Off Hours as Corey, all released in 2011.[13]

McNairy has been married to actress Whitney Able since 2010. They started dating about six months before making the film Monsters together, initially meeting in Los Angeles at Able's birthday party.[20] On moving back to East Texas in 2011, McNairy said: "I live in the middle of nowhere; nobody watches movies out there."[2]